


Mr. Underhill's Distance Desserts

by allcatsareblackinthedark



Series: Mr. Underhill's Baking Adventures [2]
Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies), The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Baking, Cooking, Domestic Fluff, M/M, Modern AU, long distance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-16
Updated: 2016-05-16
Packaged: 2018-06-08 21:01:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,728
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6873127
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/allcatsareblackinthedark/pseuds/allcatsareblackinthedark
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Yet again, given the demand to make a birthday cake, this time for Kili's birthday, Thorin finds himself struggling a bit. When his boyfriend is sent to a foodie convention, Thorin thinks himself alone in this venture. Bilbo still finds his way to lend a helping hand once more. Hopefully, this would work out.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mr. Underhill's Distance Desserts

As it would unfortunately turn out, Bilbo was not in town when Kilis birthday rolled around. Some food convention of great proportions was being held and Bilbo, who had recently come allowed himself to be revealed as Mr. Underhill, was asked to present and to be on the panel for a few presentations.

Kili was ever so disappointed, but there was little to be done. Thorin was disappointed for an entirely separate reason, of course. Not only would his boyfriend be out of town, but his ideas for Kili’s birthday cake was absolutely dashed.

“There is no way I could make this without you.” Thorin insisted into the speaker of his smartphone.

“You made Dis’s just fine.” Bilbo’s voice crackled over the line

“You were there, if you’d recall.” Thorin remarked. Bilbo snorted.

“I was assisting, more than anything else. You can do it, you just have to be more confident about it.”

“It won’t be as fun without you there.” Thorin tried.

“I’m sorry Thorin, but I really can’t miss this. I’m presenting at a panel in five minutes, but I’ll call you back throughout the day, okay?”

“Very well.”

“Thank you sweetheart. I’ll call you around seven? Maybe I can walk you through it.” Bilbo said, then there was a muffled voice of someone telling him to hurry up. “Gotta go, dear. Love you.”

“Love you, too.” Thorin barely said before the call finished.

He looked at his phone forlornly. He had been honest with Bilbo, he really wasn’t sure if he could manage it himself. The promise of him calling to at least talk him through it was comforting at least.

Thorin somehow managed to placate himself throughout the day with absent-minded thoughts of the promise of a phone call. Perhaps Skype even? It was a cursed application, but it was nice to see Bilbo’s face when talking to him. 

Gloin noticed, of course, when he came into work, that Thorin was not entirely there that day.

“When my wife Thaunli first left the house for more than a few days, I felt much the-”

“Gloin, please, no.”

Thorin had to do some expert sneaking around and avoidance tactics in order to stay away from Gloin, when he had finally escaped, that is. Gloin was a tricky bastard when he wanted to be. Nori had his own game of trapping Thorin by various locations and loudly saying different innocuous statements that gave off Thorin’s locations.

“Oh Thorin! Is that copy machine working for you alright? It was jamming all day yesterday!” or “Nothing like some good old water cooler talk, right Thorin?” Nori would say, his crooked grin on his face and Thorin would be forced to retreat before Gloin stomped his way over to him.

By the time he got home from work, Thorin felt nearly dead on his feet. At least the boys were at soccer practice and would be picked up by their mother. Thorin had convinced Dis to take the boys out for McDonald’s for supper, as a treat, and as an excuse so Thorin could make Kili’s birthday cake in just a bit of peace and quiet.

Thorin very seriously contemplated taking a nap, but managed to make his way to the fridge to reheat some leftover pasta. After eating, he was staring at his phone like a teenage girl in a terrible 80’s movie, waiting for it to ring.

Eventually Thorin allowed himself to play a few  games of Candy Crush, which he maintained was purely for the boys. He was interrupted eventually by the notification that he was being called on Skype. He opened the call to see Bilbo’s smiling face.

“Thorin! Are you ready?” He said, his voice slightly static, but still clear enough. Thorin looked at the couch where he was sitting and gave a half-smile to the camera, which he saw in a small box on the screen.

“Almost?” Thorin attempted and Bilbo mock-frowned at him.

“Almost? Really?” Bilbo said. The camera shifted, a bit shakily, to reveal a kitchen with ingredients strewn over the counters. “And here I was, ready to help you out.”

“Is that-?”

“The ingredients for blackberry shortcakes? Yes.” Bilbo said with a wide smile, the camera facing himself again. “Even if I’m not there, I figured I could cook with you anyways.”

Thorin looked sheepishly at himself, as he was sitting on the couch instead of prepared like Bilbo. Bilbo obviously noticed and made a shooing motion with his hand.

“Go get the ingredients, silly man.” Bilbo insisted as Thorin watched him set the phone up so Thorin could see the whole spread of the counter. Thorin chuckled.

“Of course.” He agreed, taking the phone with him to the kitchen. He was able to get out the ingredients fairly quickly and Bilbo was only waiting for him for a short amount of time. Lacking any sort of stand, Thorin ended up taping his phone to the door of the cupboard, so he could still use his hands and see Bilbo at the same time.

“Can you see me?” Bilbo asked, his curly head easily in frame.

“Yes.” Thorin replied. “And you?”

“Well, I certainly see a handsome man on my screen.” Bilbo smiled. “I wonder where my boyfriend went?” He teased and Thorin stuck his tongue out at him.

“Oh, ha ha.” Thorin said, gathering his hair into a ponytail, to keep it out of his face, and therefore his food. “You’re so funny, Bilbo.”

“Oh you know you love me.”

“Do I?” Thorin paused with a mock question. “Yes, I do.” He said smartly, snapping the whisk in his hand towards the screen. Bilbo wrinkled his nose in mock disgust.

“Hey, was that a reference to that animal movie the boys like?” Bilbo said and Thorin stopped for a moment and realised it was.

“I’ve been watching it too much.” Thorin said as he covered his face with his hands in abject shame. Had the boys watched it enough that it was now in his brain? I t had only been out in theaters for a short time yet and they had already considered making a collage out of the mass of tickets the boys had from going to see it so much.

Bilbo just laughed at him from the small screen, a small tinny sound.

“Should we start baking? To take your mind off of bunny cops?” Thorin gave a weak thumb’s up, and there was Bilbo laughing at him again. Thorin removed his other hand from his face and smiled weakly.

“Okay, so wash off the blackberries.” Bilbo instructed and Thorin watched him turn on the sink in the hotel. Thorin did likewise and carefully washed the two pounds of blackberries in the sink. He did as Bilbo did, putting them in a medium sized mixing bowl.

“Okay, this is where we put in the sugar.” Bilbo said and Thorin watched him measure out a bit of sugar before Thorin moved to do the same. It was nice, being coached, even if there wasn’t the familiar warmth by his side. Bilbo took out the whisk and swung it in the air.

“Do you want to make it more saucy?” Bilbo asked. “Or more chunky?”

“Maybe a mix?” Thorin suggested and Bilbo nodded in return.

“Okay, so then use the whisk and mash about half the berries and stir around the rest.”

“Is this where we add the lemon juice?” Thorin asked.

“Yes. And the zest.” Bilbo said, pouring in a small dash of either. The mixture was still mostly just wet sugar and mashed berries, but Bilbo had assured him that this indeed made a sauce.

The next step was mixing together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a new mixing bowl. Thorin was doing his best to follow Bilbo’s instructions, between doing them himself and watching Bilbo.

“Okay, so this is when you add the butter.” Bilbo said and Thorin looked at the small bit of wrapping paper from the original stick that held the now cubed butter.

“Why does it have to be cold? Can’t you just melt it?” Thorin asked, but adding the butter regardless. Bilbo was mashing the cubes into his own biscuit mix for a moment before looking up and answering.

“If you keep it cold, it makes it lumpy, like this.” Bilbo said, holding up the bowl. “When the lumps get pea sized, that’s what you want. When it cooks, the little bits of butter melt and makes it more flaky.” Thorin nodded and worked on using a fork to cut the butter into the flour.

Bilbo carefully made a little well in the center of the flour and Thorin carefully created one too. If Thorin’s was far less circular, Bilbo made no mention. They added in the cream and some vanilla extract before folding the mix together.

“Okay, so this part is gonna be tricky.” Bilbo warned, his finger admonishing on the screen. “It’ll be a bit flaky here, but take it out and start kneading it together.”

Thorin had to watch Bilbo a few times as he kneaded the dough, trying to get the movement right.

“So you…?” Thorin said, kind of folding the dough over itself. Bilbo nodded.

“Then you turn it part ways.” Bilbo said, moving his own dough partially. He then squished his hands into the forgiving mixture before folding it over again. He turns it over and repeated with another squish.

“So, fold, turn, smush?” Thorin said to himself, moving the dough carefully.

“Not too much kneading, or else it’ll be tough.” Bilbo warned. They both simply kneaded for a few minutes, when the dough seemed put together enough.

“You can either make a square and cut it, or you can just make balls with your hands.” Bilbo instructed, already making a squared shape on the counter. Thorin decided to make it easier on himself and simply rolled a handful of dough into a round little ball. They each put the dough onto a baking sheet.

“So, we need to let these chill of a bit.” Bilbo said, putting his tray into the refrigerator. “Honestly, I wondered if the pan would even fit in this fridge. It’s not particularly wide. It’s one of those stupid two doored ones. There’s vertical room, but never enough room in any other way.” Bilbo huffed. “I much rather like my good ol’ reliable fridge with plenty of space.”

Thorin laughed under his breath at Bilbo’s little tirade. There is many times that Bilbo will find fault with cooking utensils or appliances. Bilbo hated some of Thorin’s gadgets he kept. There was a veritable feud between himself and the apple corer and he didn’t want to speak of the incident with the popcorn popper.

“It’s alright, as long as they fit, right?” Thorin said, putting his own tray into his fridge. “You won’t be there forever.” Thorin insisted. Bilbo only pouted.

“It sure feels like forever.”

“You’re starting to sound like Kili.” Thorin pestered. Bilbo gave a mock gasp.

“I sound like the cutest kid I’ve ever seen?” Bilbo said, voice full of dramatics and false emotion. “What a tragedy!”

“Oh boo.” Thorin deadpanned.

Bilbo smiled brightly against the screen. He was leaned against the counter with an eased expression on his face. If the image wasn’t shown on the small screen of his smartphone, Thorin might have liked to believe that Bilbo was in the kitchen with him, slouched against the marbled counters.

Thorin hummed lowly, wiping off the front of his slacks, which had somehow attracted more flour than he had been working with. Bilbo huffed a small laugh at him and Thorin wrinkled his nose in a teasing way.

“You know, this would still be much easier with you with me.” Thorin said, taking the phone down from it’s taped perch.

“I couldn’t have helped it, dear.” Bilbo said, lazily laying his head on one hand.

“You’ll be home in two days?”

“Two days.” Bilbo said, slightly mumbled as his face was squished against his hand, and with a blissful smile on his face. Thorin chuckled.

“You know, I had been meaning to ask you something…” Thorin led in with, but he paused. “Maybe I should wait until you’re here.” He reconsidered.

“Thorin. How could you?” Bilbo whined. “You know I don’t like when you mention something but won’t tell me what it is.”

“You’re going to wish you were here for it, though.” Thorin countered. Bilbo pouted and Thorin couldn’t help but think he looked like some cute farm animal.

“Tell meeeee.” Bilbo insisted. Thorin cracked a slight smile.

“I wanted to ask if you would move in with me. With Dis and the boys and I.”

Bilbo paused, obviously not expecting this. His face was frozen for a moment before his eyes flickered upwards and Bilbo covered his face.

“Oh Thorin!” Bilbo said. “You were right; I wish I were there.” Bilbo said, trying to not let tears dribble down his cheeks.

“Is that a yes or a no?” Thorin asked cheekily to the camera.

“It’s a yes!” Bilbo cheered, moving his phone and shaking the camera. It was zoomed in on Bilbo’s excited face, with slightly watery eyes. “Dis said this was okay?”

“Are you kidding?” Thorin asked. “She wanted you to move in before her birthday cake was even done cooking.” Bilbo laughed and wiped his eyes.

“Oh Thorin.” Bilbo exhaled. He took a moment to brush himself off and to put his phone back up on the stand before moving to the fridge. “These are probably ready to go in.” Bilbo smiled.

Thorin just nodded, with the ghost of a smile tugging at the corners of his lips. It was a companionable silence as they retrieved their trays and put them into the oven.

“How long?”

“Eighteen minutes or so.”

“So, the whipped cream?”

“You can probably make it tomorrow, before the party.” Bilbo said. “Or else it might not stay right.”

Thorin nodded at that. Bilbo rubbed at his eyes for moment before yawning and smiling widely at Thorin.

“You’re beautiful, you know that?” Thorin said, softly, reverently.

“Eh? Beautiful?” Bilbo paused. “That’s an awfully strong word.”

“It’s the word that fits best.” Thorin said. Bilbo smiled and didn’t answer, turned away with a slight blush on his cheeks. After a moment of composure, he replied.

“You’re such a cheeky devil.” Bilbo said with an embarrassed smile.

“Oops.” Thorin deadpanned and Bilbo could only giggle.

It was not too long before the timer rang, but it felt like only a few fleeting seconds. Thorin pulled out the browned biscuits and let them cool as he waited for Bilbo to take his own out. Bilbo pulled his pan out and leaned against the counter with a yawn.

“Tired?” Thorin asked.

“Yes.” Bilbo admitted. “It’s been a long day.”

“Get some sleep then.” Thorin said.

“I want to talk to you.” Bilbo sulked.

“I want you to get some rest.” Thorin insisted. “You have a whole day ahead of you tomorrow.”

“So do you.” Bilbo tried to counter.

“I do.” Thorin admitted. “Which is why I’ll be going to sleep soon as well.”

“You’re such a..” Bilbo searched for a word. He frowned slightly. “You’re such a handsome man who has the best ideas that I’m too stubborn to follow.” Thorin snickered at that.

“That’s about right.” Thorin agreed.

“Very well.” Bilbo said. “I’ll go to bed. You get some rest too?”

“Hmm.” Thorin hummed, moving to hold his phone in his hand.

“Goodnight, Thorin.”

“Goodnight Bilbo. I love you.”

“I love you too.”’

The last thing Thorin saw before the call disconnected was Bilbo’s smiling face. Thorin smiled to himself and shook his head before putting his phone into his pocket. He put the biscuits and the sauce away before allowing himself to drop into bed.

The next day, Kili was delighted when Thorin came out with a cake with blackberry sauce and whipped cream stuffed in it. There was a little candle stuck into the top and Kili hardly waited until they were done singing before he blew out the candle. It was a cute party, but Thorin could feel Bilbo’s absence keenly. Apparently, so did Kili when he asked a question after the party was finished.

  
  


“Do you think Bilbo knows how to make cheesecake for Fili’s birthday?”

 

**Author's Note:**

> Part two! Again, I love cooking and baking descriptions...oops?
> 
> Again, the recipe is real and can be found easily if you take a trip over to Pinterest.


End file.
